The highly-anticipated ATLA mobile RPG is finally here

Avatar: The Last Airbender is widely considered to be one of the best animated series of all time, so it's not terribly surprising that it's getting another video game adaptation nearly twenty years after it premiered. Fans of the show are always clamoring for more content, so here's hoping that the new mobile action RPG Avatar Generations lives up to the hype. Created by Crystal Dynamics Eidos Entertainment in collaboration with Navigation Games, the free-to-play title is now available on the iOS App Store and the Google Play Store.

As of now, the events of Avatar Generations will follow the adventures of Aang and company from the original series, but subsequent updates will touch on additional Avatar eras like The Rise of Kyoshi and The Legend of Korra. Players who start the game right now will get some welcome rewards, including Aang and Appa as characters to add to their squad. In classic RPG fashion, players will meet various characters from the show and be able to add them to their traveling party, including Katara, Sokka, Zuko, and Toph. Each character has their own set of abilities and special strengths as well, so you'll have some options in how you want to build your team.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RV3wPu0sgfM

Along with the launch of the game, CDE also shared a new gameplay trailer, which shows off the game's turn-based combat and the adorable chibi art of the characters as they travel in the overworld across the Four Nations. While Avatar Generations is completely free to download, there will be some in-app purchases for "exclusive items, cosmetics, and more." I guess it wouldn't be a free-to-play game without microtransactions, right?

You can check out the official Avatar Generations website for any future updates about the game, as well as some events on the horizon. As a fan of the Avatar series, I'm excited to give this one a shot!

The post Mobile RPG Avatar Generations launches with a new gameplay trailer appeared first on Destructoid.

Carpenter weighs in on EA's latest release on Twitter

Serving as the director and composer for over a dozen horror classics, including Halloween, The Thing, and The Fog, John Carpenter has secured his role as one of the greatest horror filmmakers of all time. Fans of his films might not know that Carpenter is also something of a gamer, having expressed an interest in the Fallout, Horizon, and Borderlands series.

Well, if you missed this detail in the past as I did, now we know that Carpenter is keeping up with the latest horror games, as he took to Twitter (with his aptly-chosen handle @TheHorrorMaster) yesterday to profess his love for EA's Dead Space remake -- more specifically, he called it a "great game!" exclamation point included. With so many games trying to imitate cinema, it's really cool to know a film legend who sees the legitimacy and artistic value in the interactive medium.

https://twitter.com/TheHorrorMaster/status/1619855538589937665

In an interview with AV Club last year, Carpenter also let in on the fact that he wants to make a Dead Space movie. "I could do that," he said. Not only do I think you could do it, Mr. Carpenter, but I think you'd knock it out of the park. The cold confined indoor space of the Ishimura would be familiar territory for him, especially after helping to create The Thing's setting of an isolated Antarctic research site. I think we're due for another claustrophobic space horror flick, and this franchise would be a match made in heaven with Carpenter.

We're already in the middle of a flood of gaming adaptations, such as HBO's The Last of Us series, Amazon's upcoming Fallout series, and a Borderlands movie. Even amidst all these cool projects, I think John Carpenter's take on the Dead Space series would put them all to shame.

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Supply has increased yet again

Since the PlayStation 5 launched over two years ago, it's felt nearly impossible to get your hands on. Websites would sell out in minutes after a restock, and it quickly became something of a status symbol to flaunt on social media, because either you were lucky enough to get one during a drop, or you had enough disposable income to buy one off a scalper. The shortage occurred for a few different reasons, the foremost of which was the strain that the pandemic placed on global supply chains.

After multiple promises that the console would be more readily available, it appears that the shortage has finally come to a close. In an official blog post, Sony Interactive's Vice President of Brand, Hardware, and Peripherals Isabella Tomatis thanked fans for their "patience as [Sony] navigated unprecedented demand for the PS5 console amid global challenges." She then said that anyone who was still looking to get their hands on a PS5 should have a "much easier time finding one at retailers globally."

[caption id="attachment_360393" align="alignnone" width="1200"] Screenshot by Destructoid[/caption]

Even after promises that they'd ramp up production by the end of last year for the holidays, Sony still had a tough time keeping the console on shelves in 2022. Of course, they gave us similar assurances even before that. I was fine without a PS5 to call my own for the past few years, but now that there are some next-gen games on the horizon that I'm actually pumped for, I'm wanting to get on the bandwagon relatively soon. The ever-popular digital-only version of the PS5 (which is also $100 cheaper than the model that can take disks) is still sold out as of my writing this, but at least there are some options available for purchase right now for players who have patiently waited years for their console.

The post Sony says that PS5 consoles will be ‘much easier’ to get this year appeared first on Destructoid.

Don't overlook this indie masterpiece

I Was a Teenage Exocolonist is one of those games that I kept hearing about, but it took me a minute to get around to playing it with all the amazing titles that came out last year. I know I’m a bit late to the party on this one, as the game originally came out back in August of 2022, but I’m so glad that I went back to give this one a shot. 

I went into this playthrough without knowing anything about the game and without any real expectations, and exactly one completed playthrough later, I’m absolutely in love with this title. I can’t think of any other game like it, and I can’t think of a game I’ve ever played that’s made me want to dive immediately into another playthrough right away as much as this one did.

I Was a Teenage Exocolonist (PC [Reviewed], Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5)
Developer: Northway Games
Publisher: Finji
Released: August 25, 2022
MSRP: $24.99

From the gorgeous art to the lovable characters to the addicting gameplay and so much more, I Was a Teenage Exocolonist had me hooked from the beginning, and my intrigue only snowballed as the hours ticked away.

The premise of I Was a Teenage Exocolonist is that Earth’s first extrasolar space colony has set down roots on an alien planet called Vertumna that they accessed through a wormhole, and the player takes on the role as one of the teenage members of the community. The game follows the player character from age 10 all the way up to age 20, chronicling the dramatic highs and lows of colony life. 

Let's talk gameplay

Gameplay-wise, it’s a mix of a narrative RPG presented in a visual novel style with deckbuilding mechanics. The main gameplay loop consists of growing friendships through conversations and gifts, completing helpful tasks around the colony, and taking part in card-based battles and other deckbuilding mechanics.

Players also have a total of 15 different stats, which are broken down into three different colored categories: emotional, mental, and physical. Specifics include characteristics like bravery, creativity, toughness, empathy, and organization, just to name a few. You mostly improve your stats by taking on different jobs around the colony, but there are some other modifiers that can make leveling up even easier.

[caption id="attachment_359171" align="alignnone" width="1200"] Screenshot by Destructoid[/caption]

This game offers a huge variety of content, including 10 different romanceable characters, 25 different jobs, 200 battle cards, 1,000 story events, and 50 different endings. It’s also important to note that the game only took me roughly 10 hours to get through the first time, but it’s designed to be played on repeat – it’s even advertised on its official website as a “narrative deckbuilding RPG with a timeloop twist.”

I’m a huge fan of deckbuilders, so I was pumped to jump into the card-based mechanics in this game. Basically how it works is that whenever you partake in an activity or need to participate in a “check” to see if you were successful at performing a task, you’ll enter a card challenge. Each task has a specific number goal that you need to reach, either in one go or at the end of three rounds. The cards themselves have a different suit (yellow, blue, or red based on their associations with the three different stat categories), a numerical value, and often a unique card power that affects the other cards on the board.

There are also other mechanics that can help you gain bonuses or get rid of cards you don’t need anymore, but otherwise, it’s a fairly simple minigame, but a balanced and endlessly enjoyable one at that. 

My other absolute favorite thing about the cards is that they correspond with memories your character forms – having a new or particularly compelling encounter, either with other characters or alone, will reward you with a new card. This ties the main battling/minigame mechanic back into the game’s story incredibly well by acting as a meditation on how your experiences shape your personalities, interests, and abilities. It also just encourages you to reflect on your journey so far as you regularly look at everything you’ve gone through and the bonds you’ve formed, which not only ties perfectly into the themes of the game, but also mimics how our memories work in real life quite beautifully.

[caption id="attachment_359172" align="alignnone" width="1200"] Screenshot by Destructoid[/caption]

A loop you won't want to break

If you’re worried you’re not gonna get your money’s worth with this one, I can assure you that there’s nothing to fret about on that front. The game encourages you pretty strongly right after you finish that it’s meant for you to start again, and I know for a fact that I Was a Teenage Exocolonist is only going to get better with each subsequent playthrough, as per a friend’s anecdotes now that they’ve played the game three times through.

The characters in this game are so incredibly loveable. You not only get a clear sense of who everyone is right off the bat, but it’s particularly intriguing to see how each individual changes and grows as time goes on. The young cast members are truly shaped by their environment, and every step of the way you get to see how your friends react to the hand that they’ve been dealt. It’s some of the best character work I’ve seen in a game in a good while, and I know I only scratched the surface of those 1,000 unique story events.

I Was a Teenage Exocolonist is also a game that hinges on its choice-based narrative and let me say, I don’t think I’ve ever felt like my choices matter so much in a game before. Even the smallest action, or lack of action, can entirely alter the status quo of a playthrough in the opening hour, which will send ripples throughout the entire rest of your experience. It’s so incredibly easy to miss certain encounters that the ones you do find feel truly special.

[caption id="attachment_359173" align="alignnone" width="1200"] Screenshot by Destructoid[/caption]

I know the "visual novel" style isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but any skepticism should certainly be helped by the fact that the art in this game is gorgeous and so full of life. Another benefit of the game’s restrained yet stylized art is that it allows for a ton more variation in what players can experience in the story – a lack of animation and smaller scope means that the story can branch any which way without it being a strain on resources, which further opens the door for a choice-based game to fully embody its descriptor.

I also have to say that I absolutely love the music in I Was a Teenage Exocolonist. I’m already pre-disposed to enjoying anything remotely related to the lo-fi genre, but I found the music always perfectly matched the mood and heightened the emotional atmosphere. It was just nice to listen to, honestly. This game is highly polished, as well. Everything looks and feels great, and I can’t recall a single bug from my entire run. 

It's darkest before the dawn

Right from the start, I Was a Teenage Exocolonist makes it clear in the form of some lengthy content warnings that it’s going to be touching on some pretty dark subject matter, and let me tell you, I’m glad it did – this game does not pull its punches. I was pleased that any darkness that’s included, though, is not gratuitous or there for the sake of making the title edgier. Basically, the whole premise of the game is that this colony of people has come all this way through space and landed in a precarious position on this new planet where they don’t know whether they’re going to make it or not.

 It makes sense that they would encounter some harrowing situations, but what makes I Was a Teenage Exocolonist really shine is how it uses those difficulties to reflect on the characters, their relationships, and ultimately what it’s like to continue living on in the face of life-altering adversity.

[caption id="attachment_359177" align="alignnone" width="1200"] Screenshot by Destructoid[/caption]

Considering the time we live in now, where so much of our lives are online and we can all feel so distant, there was something really powerful about a story that focused on a small, tight-knit community that has to work together in the face of an ever-present existential threat. Whether it’s from a lack of resources, difficulties adjusting to the ecosystem of their new home planet, or straight-up attacks from both outside and inside forces, there is never a point in this game where it feels like the colony can entirely breathe a sigh of relief.

It’s certainly a difficult scenario to imagine, but I can’t deny the sense of hopefulness I felt in engaging in activities in the community that were a clear benefit to the rest of the group at large, whether it was digging around in the greenhouses, helping out in the kitchens, or assisting in the med bay. It was refreshing and honestly pretty grounding to have such a tangible, beneficial effect on a fictional community when in the real world, having an impact on anything truly substantial feels out of reach.

[caption id="attachment_359183" align="alignnone" width="1200"] Screenshot by Destructoid[/caption]

Touching on colonialism

Of course, the game’s narrative also touches on the “colonist” part of this whole endeavor. Clearly, colonialism on Earth has its own dark history (something the game also acknowledges), but I Was a Teenage Exocolonist leaves it up to the player to decide what they make of people from Earth staking their claim on a planet that is not their own. This decision is made slightly easier due to the fact that the colony only really encounters animals/insects/plants as opposed to, from what they are able to ascertain, fully sentient beings, but it’s still a key piece of the game’s story. 

There’s an interesting question to be explored about how much destruction of nature can be justified in the name of survival, which I think is always relevant as we are a species that not only rely on nature to survive but has turned around and exploited it as means to our own selfish ends. You can probably guess where I landed in the game’s political divide – regardless of where you fall, this game presents an interesting way to explore topics like this in a simulated environment, and one that challenges you to come at its story with a different perspective on each playthrough.

[caption id="attachment_359181" align="alignnone" width="1200"] Screenshot by Destructoid[/caption]

In conclusion

I know this is high praise, but it’s deserved – this game reminds me a lot of Disco Elysium. In fact, it feels like I Was a Teenage Exocolonist saw Disco Elysium, learned from it, and put its own spin on the heavily text-based RPG in a way that really moves the genre forward. Don’t let the cutesy characters and art style fool you – this has to be one of the most well-told and integrated RPG stories I’ve seen in a good while. I know this is partially because I need to play more RPGs, but the point here is that this game is one for the history books.

I Was a Teenage Exocolonist is a game to get lost in, from its heartbreaking, hopeful storytelling to its engaging gameplay. I think it’s a shame that this title probably didn’t get as much widespread recognition as it deserves, because it has to have one of the most touching stories about what it means to be human that I’ve seen in games. I’m so thrilled that this title is meant to be played on a loop, because it’s a game I’m looking forward to returning to, and learning from, again and again.

The post Review: I Was a Teenage Exocolonist appeared first on Destructoid.

Another day, another rerelease

The past few years have been rife with some awesome remakes or remasters of some of the best classic games out there, including but not limited to titles like Bioshock, Final Fantasy VII, Dead Space, The Last of Us Part I, and the upcoming Resident Evil 4 remake. While this trend is only heating up with seemingly more and more remakes/remasters released and announced every year, I'm starting to think about what other classic games I'd like to see get a fresh coat of paint, so to speak.

This is a bit of a tricky one for me because I didn't game as much when I was younger — unless Disney Interactive Studios is willing to revive the 2007 PS2 banger that was High School Musical: Sing It! That's not to say there aren't some classic games that are nostalgic for me, even if I didn't play them myself. I spent endless hours as a kid watching my dad and brother play titles like Jak and Daxter, Ratchet and Clank, and Left 4 Dead.

https://youtu.be/DK4jDHCY6Ns

Bringing back some childhood favorites

Both Jak and Daxter and Ratchet and Clank have a similar kind of thing going on, and not just in their naming conventions. Both franchises have really solid level design, and aside from fixing some camera jankiness and tightening up the controls, a graphical update would do the most legwork, especially for some of the earlier titles in both of the series.

I'm also a staunch believer in the fact that we don't have enough cute gaming mascots these days. The Nintendo classics like Mario and Kirby have been around forever, and the likes of PlayStation and Xbox are for the most part only represented by hardened-looking fighters like Halo's Master Chief, God of War's Kratos, and Horizon's Aloy. I love those characters as much as the next guy, but seeing the fuzzy, friendly faces of Ratchet and Daxter step into the limelight yet again would be another benefit of seeing those titles get a refresh.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8SPWsmasgXU

As for Left 4 Dead, I know I'm dreaming with that one since Valve is so focused on Steam, but a girl can dream, right? As scared as I was, Left 4 Dead was a game that I actually tried to play when I was younger, which I guess accounts for my obsession with the zombie genre and first-person shooters in my adult life. I don't remember a ton about this game considering I didn't end up playing a ton of it because I was so bad, but without returning to it at all since I was like twelve, I can imagine that the gameplay system could use some updates. And of course, improved graphics are always nice to see.

For every fan, there's a skeptic

Of course, some players aren't as thrilled about the onslaught of remakes/remasters as others. In an industry — and media landscape in general — where brand-new IPs are few and far between, I can't blame anyone for wishing studios would spend all the time and money they put into a remake working on something entirely fresh. As excited as I am to see another take on a game like Resident Evil 4, I also happen to side with the skeptics, too. After all, The Last of Us is my favorite game of all time, but I'm solidly on the side that says it did not need to be entirely rebuilt in a new engine.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E69tKrfEQag

So with all these updates coming out, and even more that are still rumored, I want to know: what classic game do you want to see get a remake/remaster next? Which of the remakes that have come out so far over the past few years is your favorite? Is there a particular level or gameplay moment you'd be extra excited to see get a refresh? Let's discuss in the comments!

The post What classic game do you want to see get a remake/remaster next? appeared first on Destructoid.

This could be a useful new Steam feature for DLC fans

One of the reasons Steam has continued to be one of the most successful gaming platforms is because the team at Valve is so dedicated to creating the best user interface they can. I'm still in the camp that would rather see them making more games than shuttering development to simply focus on Steam (although they insist otherwise), but at least they're constantly making changes to the store that make the game-buying experience more enjoyable. They also make their experimentation process somewhat transparent with Steam Labs, where they "create dozens of experiments around discoverability, video, machine learning, and more."

The newest experiment on the website is called DLC For You, which is a page that compiles information about the DLC you have yet to download for games that you already own. Essentially, it's another, fancier way for Steam to advertise content to you, but if you're a fan of DLC and are looking for a more streamlined way to purchase add-ons for your favorite titles, this page could come in handy.

A write-up on the Steam Labs website includes details about what to expect from your DLC page (which you can check out right now). The main section of the page will focus on highlighting the DLC for games you've already played that are currently the most popular, whether it's a recent title or a game that was released years ago. You can also change up the view to see the DLC from games that you've either played the most recently, or just played the most in general.

[caption id="attachment_360234" align="alignnone" width="1200"] Screenshot by Destructoid[/caption]

Perhaps the most useful are the at-a-glance stats at the top of the page, which tell you how many games are in your library total, and many DLCs are in your library, and most importantly, how many DLC packs are available to purchase for your games right now.

There's already so much information to keep track of on Steam, so perhaps having this extra bit of insight will help us further enjoy our experience of the platform. Only time will tell if players actually find the feature useful though, because it'll either graduate from Steam Labs to be fully integrated, or it'll be archived along with the rest of the rejected ideas.

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But not unplayable by any means

The 1997 FPS GoldenEye 007 is considered one of the best influential shooters of all time, especially when it comes to its local co-op mode (I guess technically it had to be local because online play hadn't been invented yet). I missed out on the golden age of the James Bond title because I wasn't even a year old when it came out, but hearing friends and colleagues recounting the magical months and years that followed its release, I'm somewhat envious of a time before online gamer rage. Now's my chance to live vicariously, though, because Rare announced that GoldenEye 007 is available to play on Nintendo Switch and Xbox consoles 26 years after it launched on the Nintendo 64.

While fans are thrilled to be able to return to a childhood favorite, there are a few issues with the port that are hard to ignore. Most obviously, the game only runs at 30 frames per second, which isn't a deal-breaker, but can be an issue for those who are more particular about how their game runs. The lower frame rate is intentional on the developers' part because the port uses the game's original ROM code, and the N64 could only run at 30fps back then anyway. I personally don't mind lower framerates, but for those who do, there are ways to play GoldenEye 007 on the PC at today's industry standard, 60fps.

https://twitter.com/CodeMystics/status/1618895288235855873

Other bugs or problems include audio issues, incorrect textures/decals, hard-to-read low-res text, and visible seams in the environment of some of the levels. Speaking specifically to the issue with the seams, one of the developers behind the game said through the company's Twitter account that these issues were always present in the base game, but these issues are "just easier to see in HD." The emulation may not make for "perfect" gameplay for long-time fans — or at least as perfect as nostalgia goggles can make a game feel that came out on retro consoles — but at the very least, the release of GoldenEye 007 on modern consoles is a great step forward for making classic games more accessible for new generations.

Speaking from experience as someone who isn't tech-savvy at all, emulators aren't for everyone. It's pretty cool that now anyone who has Game Pass can instantly get access to a classic that's been tough for the average player to get their hands on over the past couple of decades. Games preservation is important to me, especially considering we've lost a lot of the industry's history already, but rereleases like this are certainly a vast improvement for the accessibility of classic games.

The post GoldenEye 007’s new port for modern consoles has some hard-to-ignore issues appeared first on Destructoid.

We all saw this one coming

HBO's adaptation of The Last of Us has been one of the biggest hits for the platform in about a decade, garnering a staggering 10 million viewers within the first two days of the premiere alone, as well as gaining the most viewers from a first to second episode of any show ever on HBO. It pretty much felt like the show was going to get a renewal as soon as we saw the success of the premiere episode, so the writing was on the wall with this one. We haven't gotten any other official info from the announcement so far — we just know Season 2 will be on the way.

https://twitter.com/TheLastofUsHBO/status/1619017515581018112

As far as the content of Season 2, we know as per the show's creators that it will be covering the events of The Last of Us Part II, as this first season will come to a close along with the first game's story. One thing to consider is that the sequel is considerably longer than its predecessor — over double the length in terms of hours — so there's a chance that they'll need more than one season to tackle its narrative. In an interview from The Hollywood Reporter, Neil Druckmann revealed that they don't have any plans for the show's story to go beyond the games.

Personally, I think my viewing experience of The Last of Us will have to end with Season 1. My curiosity is enough to carry me through as of now, but I don't think I'll have it in me to sit through a whole other season — especially because the story of Part II wasn't my favorite to begin with. As a fan, I'm happy to see the franchise thriving, but I've spent so much time thinking and talking about it, I think it's time to move on for a while after I finish covering Season 1.

The post HBO’s The Last of Us has been renewed for a second season appeared first on Destructoid.

The road trip adventure gets a musical follow-up

Road 96 was originally released back in 2021 by the creators of Valiant Hearts and 11-11: Memories Retold with its big selling point that it was a procedurally generated narrative game. The story took place in the mid-90s, as characters hitchhiked across the fictional nation of Petria in order to escape its authoritarian regime. While the game didn't always stick the landing, it was generally well received, and was considered a successful experiment in trying something totally new when it comes to storytelling in games.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3fYO2XC33tQ

Now, two years after Road 96's release, developers Digixart have announced that they're working on a prequel, which is titled Road 96: Mile 0 and will take place right before the events of the first game. The story will follow two teenagers, Zoe and Kaito (the former is a character players will recognize from the original Road 96), and will switch between them as their journey challenges "their friendship and everything they believe in."

Mile 0 will also deviate from its predecessor in that it will include playable musical sections, and if that music is anywhere near as catchy as the song playing over the announcement trailer, we'll be in for a treat. Road 96: Mile 0 will release on April 4 for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch, and PC.

The post Digixart announces Road 96: Mile 0, a musical prequel to the acclaimed procedural narrative adventure appeared first on Destructoid.

Check out Abzû's chill older brother

If you've yet to play Giant Squid's gorgeous action-adventure title The Pathless, now's your chance, because it's finally getting a port to the Nintendo Switch and Xbox next week on February 2. The game is already available to play on pretty much every other platform, including PlayStation, Steam, Epic Games Store, and Apple Arcade. Porting it out to the two remaining major consoles will make The Pathless as widely accessible as it gets, which is a pretty big deal for an indie game.

https://twitter.com/A_i/status/1618655130026393614

In the game, the player takes on the role of the Hunter, "a master archer who travels to a mystical island to dispel a curse of darkness that grips the world." There's an emphasis on smooth, acrobatic-like platforming and making slick trick shots alongside an eagle companion who will help you along on your journey. The game even offers some boss fights to add a bit of challenge, but overall, exploring the open world entirely uninhibited will lull you into a soothing flow state in no time.

Giant Squid is also the developer behind the calming diving game Abzû, and they've managed to further build upon their gameplay systems to create a relaxing yet engaging experience with The Pathless. If you're looking for a short experience to dive into for an evening, The Pathless is a great bet with the average playthrough coming in at around five hours.

The post The Pathless is coming to Nintendo Switch and Xbox in February appeared first on Destructoid.

They're heads down on Witchbrook

At this point I think it's safe to say that Witchbrook is my most anticipated game of all time. I've been following its development for years at this point, and have become a regular lurker on the Witchbrook subreddit, which mostly exists to speculate about when the game will be coming out.  The title is basically a combination of Stardew Valley and the wizard school franchise that shall not be named, and as a fan of cozy simulation games, that's a match made in heaven for me.

Today, the team at developer and publisher Chucklefish — who was also the original publisher of Stardew Valley — took to Twitter to let us know that yes, they're still working on Witchbrook. They also made sure to emphasize in the thread that their in-house studio has a no-crunch policy, hence the long development time. Hey, if waiting a little while longer means no one is pushing themselves too hard trying to get the game out, I am perfectly happy to wait.

https://twitter.com/Witchbrook/status/1618646484601405441

The most recent update we got was in June of last year with some new screenshots and a Steam listing, and even that was the first news we had heard about the game in two years. We still don't have any idea how far out Witchbrook really is, but thankfully I have some other cozy games like Disney's Dreamlight Valley to tide me over for a while. If you're interested in checking it out, you can wishlist the game on Steam and follow along on Chucklefish/Witchbrook's socials to keep up with any more news that might be coming our way.

The post Chucklefish popped in to reassure fans that Witchbrook is still in development appeared first on Destructoid.

There's nothing wrong with a little guidance

It’s no secret that games are getting longer and bigger than they ever have been. “Hundreds of hours of content” is now a selling point for some of the biggest AAA titles, and as someone who’s already struggling to get through their backlog in a timely manner, huge, multi-week/month endeavors can sometimes be more overwhelming than they are exciting. Take God of War Ragnarok, for example. It’s not a game I really have the capacity to play right now, but my roommate, on the other hand, just finished a playthrough.

We’ve both worked in the industry for a while, so gaming is something of a communal activity in our house. Our shared PS5 is in the living room, so it’s common that we’ll sit together to watch the other one play the game du jour. I was able to watch the majority of her playthrough, and I’m glad I did because that game is just so huge, I don’t think I’d have the energy to even make it through the first Realm as of now.

[caption id="attachment_359783" align="alignnone" width="1200"] Image via Sony Santa Monica[/caption]

As a semi-completionist, my roomie was determined to sew up as many of the side quests as possible, but started getting frustrated by the sheer size of the map. Even when the game pointed her in a general direction, which isn’t always the case the begin with, she relayed that she was still struggling to find many of the collectibles or side objectives. Further, she said she didn’t want to have to spend extra hours of her playthrough finding optional content because the game was already so long to begin with.

It reached a point where she finally threw up her hands and said something along the lines of, “I don’t care anymore, I’m looking up a guide.” I quickly felt the need to reassure her that doing so was just fine, everyone does it, which then prompted a discussion as to why we feel the need to justify ourselves in using these guides in the first place.

No matter the game, guide usage is always valid

When the map covers such a wide surface area, it becomes more and more of an investment — or time-sink — to keep looking for stuff as you go on. Especially when it comes to areas like Ragnarok’s Svartalfheim, which already takes a great deal of time and effort to navigate and simply get to your intended destination, further pursuing another objective that’s not even important to the plot (which is most of the reason we were invested, anyway) isn’t always ideal. There are plenty of players out there who absolutely adore turning over every virtual rock and finding every last detail, but I think for most players, anything that extends the downtime too far between the game’s actually interesting moments only hurts the experience in the long run.

That’s not to say I’m against the sheer existence of larger-scale open-world games, but I think there are some titles out there that strike a really nice middle ground, like Breath of the Wild. The 2017 entry in The Legend of Zelda franchise is already one of the best examples of the genre, but I think the way it presents its optional content like collectibles is especially compelling.

[caption id="attachment_359784" align="alignnone" width="1200"] Image via Nintendo[/caption]

Although nowhere near the magnitude of maps in games like Horizon Forbidden West or God of War Ragnarok, the size of Breath of the Wild’s map isn’t insignificant. This is also helped by the fact that Hyrule is so chock full of sights to see and adventures to partake in that it feels bigger in comparison. Everything feels open and accessible, and yet the game has so many clever, hidden ways to encourage you toward the quests, items, and encounters that other titles might point you toward by plonking down a waypoint and calling it a day.

Even with all of the great design choices that I think make Breath of the Wild one of the most compelling open-world games of all time, I still looked up guides for that game all the freaking time. There were definitely a few shrine puzzles I got stuck on, and with my terrible sense of direction, there was no way I would ever make it out of the labyrinths without some extra help. I know for a fact that most of the players who got every single one of the game’s 900 Korok seeds didn’t achieve that without peeking at some guides.

With a little help from my friends

Similarly, part of what can make such large games feel difficult is not just how big the map physically is, but instead, the amount of depth and possibilities the player can encounter in the gameplay. Take a game like Dark Souls, for example. In discussing this same topic, a friend told me that years ago when he wanted to give a Soulsborne a try for the first time, he felt paralyzed in the game’s opening hours because there was just so much he didn’t know or understand. 

There was a ton to learn about when it came to the gameplay loop, the items, and what the game expected from him. There were hordes upon hordes of enemies that required him to painstakingly learn their attack patterns and weaknesses. Then there’s the sheer muscle memory of the controls and getting into the rhythm of combat, looting, etc. 

[caption id="attachment_359785" align="alignnone" width="1200"] Image via FromSoftware[/caption]

So what did my friend do? He ended up putting on a playthrough on YouTube and following along. He told me it felt like playing along with a friend, especially when it came to the player explaining the strategies he was using and why, and sharing little tips and tricks that could help anyone else get a hang of the genre. I always thought of Let’s Play videos as entertainment foremost – it never occurred to me that I could use them as a tool to help me break through those intimidating early hours. Maybe I’ll have to steal his strategy when I finally return to my save of The Witcher 3 that’s been sitting with only five hours of playtime.

Video games are about fun, right?

My larger point here is that the bigger games get, the more willing I am to use a guide, or any other kind of assistance. For a long time, it felt to me like there was a narrative being passed around in the gaming community that using a game guide made you less of a gamer, or something – like it was a way of cheating both the game and yourself.

The mantra I keep repeating over and over again is that I think playing video games is foremost about having fun, so that means anyone should be able to play a game however they want without fear of judgment. As noble as it all sounds, I still have this internalized sense of disappointment with myself when I “give in” and look up the way forward when I get stuck, or the solution to a puzzle when I’m about ready to pull my hair out in frustration. I bet it’s just a matter of pride, seeing as I’m a younger woman who got into games later in life than most people; like somehow if I beat all these games the “right way,” I could finally earn my stripes as a Real Gamer. 

I’m slowly taking steps back into the world of more intensive game systems after a few years of focusing mostly on indie games – in spite of ongoing struggle and sheer exhaustion of fully entering adulthood for the first time, I’m finally putting some new energy into challenging myself to play the kinds of games that I’ve otherwise avoided. The irony in that challenge is that I’m allowing myself to look up more game guides. 

[caption id="attachment_357412" align="alignnone" width="1200"] Screenshot by Destructoid[/caption]

Play how you want

The problem is that a lot of us — obviously myself included — look at guides more as a way of giving up, rather than a tool that we can use to help us enjoy one of our favorite hobbies. In the same way that the perception of not being a “real gamer” unless you beat a game on a harder difficulty has evolved to the point where many titles are including easier story modes and accessibility settings to cater to all kinds of players, the perception of using game guides has changed a lot, too.

I think this small moment in the midst of my roommate’s God of War Ragnarok playthrough stuck out to me most because it was a reminder that I don’t need to be hard on myself, especially when no one else really cares. Hell, no one even has a way of knowing if I played a game using guides. Just play what you want however you want, because the people who are going to judge you for it aren’t likely worth listening to in the first place.

The post I’m using game guides guilt-free from now on appeared first on Destructoid.

This year brings multiplayer, new characters, and more

Disney's Dreamlight Valley has taken over my free time. I was looking for a cozy new simulator to play, and so far this title has ticked all the boxes for me. I found it to be a bummer that I was nearing the end of all of the content released as of now, so I was waiting with bated breath to hear any news about what's to come. My prayers have finally been answered, because Gameloft just laid out their plans for their free updates in 2023, as reported by GameSpot. This year has a ton in store for the game, including a multiplayer mode, new characters, realms, clothing, motifs, decorations, and furniture.

First up in February, the game will be welcoming two new villagers: Mirabel from Encanto and Olaf from Frozen. We'll also be able to "discover the secrets of the Frosted Heights biome," which likely means that we'll get some more quests surrounding the Valley itself that will reveal more details about the Forgetting. The Star Path event in February will also celebrate Disney's 100th anniversary.

[caption id="attachment_359723" align="alignnone" width="1200"] Image via Gameloft[/caption]

The April announcement teases a new realm, some new characters, and "more surprises," and features a picture of the beloved Lion King protagonist, Simba. April's Star Path will be celebrating Disney Parks — not really sure what this means but I'm down for it. Early summer promises a big story event, and a new princess' arrival to the Valley. For the rest of the year, we can look forward to the addition of multiplayer, as well as the rest of the aforementioned content like clothes and furniture. Some bug fixes and quality-of-life changes have also been announced, like further streamlining recipe and inventory systems, and sprinklers to help water your crops.

Finally, when the game's lead producer Manea Castet was asked if we'll be seeing any Star Wars or Marvel characters coming to the Valley anytime soon, apparently he dodged the question. I don't know, I'm getting the sense that my prediction is correct, and eventually we will see familiar faces from the extended Disney universe making their way into Dreamlight Valley. We won't know for sure until Gameloft makes an official announcement, but it's fun to speculate for now.

The post Gameloft lays out their roadmap for Disney Dreamlight Valley in 2023 appeared first on Destructoid.

Take a bite out of this spooky adventure later this spring

With previous releases like Dishonored, Prey, and Deathloop, Arkane has one of the most solid track records out there. Fans have been anxiously awaiting their newest release, vampire FPS Redfall. The game will feature a roster of playable characters who all utilize unique abilities to take down the vampires that are terrorizing the isolated town of Redfall. We got an in-depth look at what to expect from the gameplay during today's Xbox and Bethesda Games Showcase, including character skill trees, a whole host of weapons and gadgets, and encounters that players will come across in the game's "immersive open world." The most exciting news of all, though, is the official release date for Redfall, which the developers from Arkane announced as May 2, 2023.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cR8GVePOdpY

From where I stand, Redfall really looks like a culmination of everything Arkane has created so far, such as the studio's focus on complex problem-solving with multiple ways to approach any given situation, allowing players to truly craft their build around how they want to play with different items and skill trees, and of course their endlessly-compelling means of storytelling through complex characters and environments. I'm greatly looking forward to giving Redfall a go, especially with friends along the way to further enjoy the spooky atmosphere and dynamic gameplay encounters.

The post Arkane’s vampire FPS Redfall is officially coming in May appeared first on Destructoid.

We got the news during today's Xbox Games Showcase

Minecraft is one of the most beloved franchises in all of gaming that has inspired a slew of spin-offs into other genres. The newest entry in the Minecraft franchise is delving into even more unexplored territory in the form of Minecraft Legends, an action strategy game that was announced at last year's Xbox and Bethesda Games Showcase. This title has made an appearance at the same event in 2023, this time revealing a brand new gameplay trailer, as well as an official release date: April 18, 2023.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yaL6XQZISq0

The trailer showed off the game's overworld, which players will be able to roam freely on horseback, as well as combat with "familiar foes" and "unexpected allies." We also got a brief look at the Minecraft Legends' online features, as players will be able to play co-operatively with friends, or challenge them to play as opponents. Between the adorable Minecraft art style to the bombastic gameplay, this title looks like it's going to be a blast for action strategy lovers and long-time Minecraft fans alike.

Minecraft Legends will be available for Xbox platforms (including Xbox Game Pass), Windows/Steam, PlayStation consoles, and Nintendo Switch. Pre-orders are available right now, so make sure to check it out if the game piques your interest.

The post Minecraft Legends gets an April release date, new gameplay trailer appeared first on Destructoid.

It seems the iconic Red Rocket station will be featured in the show

With the success of HBO's adaptation of The Last of Us, the future for game-to-TV adaptations is looking brighter than ever. We don't have a ton of info on Amazon's Fallout series as of yet, but based on my optimism and some unofficial photos of the set that have leaked on Twitter, it looks like this series will at least have the set design to contend with some of the greats that have come before it. A fan who goes by J Carson on Twitter found the show's set still under construction in New York and was able to snap a whole series of photos, which feature the real-life replica of Fallout's famed Red Rocket filling station.

https://twitter.com/jcarson_nyack/status/1617702118986776578

You can see in the photos that the Red Rocket sign is still covered in plastic, and J Carson mentions that the rocket itself hasn't been built as of the taking of the photos — there's also a chance it won't be built at all if they plan on adding it in post. Through the wheelbarrows and construction lifts, you can start to get a sense of what the station will look like in the final show. As a fan of retro futurism myself, I kind of wish all of our gas stations looked like this, minus the rust and wreckage.

https://twitter.com/jcarson_nyack/status/1617634197539282944?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1617634197539282944%7Ctwgr%5E7859c18c9d3bdbade0720ecde40b787de11d696b%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.pcgamer.com%2Fnew-fallout-tv-series-set-photos-show-iconic-red-rocket-gas-station%2F

As for any screenshots from the upcoming Fallout series, we only have one official image so far — it features two figures in Vault suits with the number 33 on the back looking toward another figure silhouetted in the illuminated opening of a Vault door. These fan photos are the first we're seeing of the show's take on the wastelands, but even in its unfinished form, the Red Rocket has me hyped up for the series all over again. The show is set to go into production sometime this year after having secured its showrunners and a director for the premiere, so it's only a matter of time before we get some more details on what's to come.

The post Some unofficial photos of the Fallout TV series set just dropped appeared first on Destructoid.

No more one-shot kills for Hog mains

Overwatch 2 is a constant balancing act of buffing and nerfing heroes as the meta changes, and the character on the chopping block this time around is none other than everyone's favorite hook-wielding heavyweight, Roadhog. He was known for his hook-shoot-melee combo that could kill players in one shot, which I knew all too well as a Mercy main.

The Overwatch 2 devs said that "these changes aim to reduce the frustration of dying in one shot immediately after being hooked and pulled by Roadhog," while also reassuring players that his hook is still a "powerful utility to forcibly reposition enemy players." The full details of Roadhog's nerf are as follows per the official patch notes:

The post New Overwatch 2 update brings a big nerf for Roadhog appeared first on Destructoid.

A victim of its own success

It doesn't get much more classic than chess. I mean, it was invented back in the 15th century, best we can tell, and it's still one of the most popular games played around the world today. Nothing highlights this sentiment more than the fact that Chess.com, the foremost online chess platform that you can play right in your browser, is crashing simply because it has gotten so popular, the servers can't handle all of the traffic anymore. Originally spotted by PC Gamer, Chess.com posted an official statement to their blog yesterday letting us on in why these issues are occurring, and why the game has gotten so popular in the first place.

On December 31, 2022, the site had seven million active members for the first time, which was eclipsed by a record of 10 million active members on January 20, 2023. The Chess.com app has reached the #2 spot in the free games category on the iOS store, and more than 250,000 new accounts are created on the site every day. 31,700,000 games were played on January 20, which set a new site record for games played in a single day, and Chess.com says that they "are now regularly seeing more than one million games an hour."

So where's all this buzz coming from? In 2020 and 2021, the uptick in users could easily be credited to lockdowns, streamers who were playing the game, and the release of Netflix's popular series about chess, The Queen's Gambit. Now, Chess.com says most of the buzz is coming from more widespread news coverage, from celebrities voicing their newfound chess obsessions to the rise of chessboxing, a game that combines alternating rounds of chess and boxing, which ends in either a checkmate or a knockout.

[caption id="attachment_359516" align="alignnone" width="1200"] Screenshot by Destructoid[/caption]

As for the server issues, it seems that when the site was originally created, it simply wasn't built to withstand such huge numbers. Chess.com says they're looking to get "more/better hardware both on-site and in the cloud," and that "some major changes will be in place in 2-3 weeks that we hope will allow us to properly handle the next wave of chess enthusiasm." Check out the full blog if you're interested in diving into some more of the details.

Of course it sucks to have the site crashing on us, but I think it's really cool that chess is getting so much love in the era of modern gaming. It feels like with every passing year, titles become more and more complex with so many different gameplay nuances and moving pieces — chess' ongoing popularity for centuries after it was created only speaks to the strength and staying power of simple, elegant game design.

The post Chess.com’s servers can’t handle its booming popularity appeared first on Destructoid.

Bungie is already on the case

The way games are made these days, any small change can send the whole house of cards toppling down — live service games are in an even more precarious situation due to constant updates. Destiny 2 is currently taking a hit in this regard, and a pretty big one at that. The issue has caused the progress of some of the Triumphs to reset, which has removed already-earned Seals from some players. Of course, those affected aren't exactly thrilled, as the Triumph objectives take a great deal of time and effort to complete, but thankfully Bungie is already working on a hotfix, as they announced on Twitter this morning.

https://twitter.com/BungieHelp/status/1617959541685235713

Bungie also stated that they're extending the ongoing maintenance time for the hotfix by four hours, meaning the new end time will be 2 PM PT / 5 PM ET. The game will go offline shortly to get everything sorted, so here's hoping it doesn't take long to get things back on track.

This bug entered the game after the release of Hotfix 6.3.0.5, which got rid of blue engrams and therefore removed the soft gear cap — now players who were otherwise maxed out will receive Glimmer drops instead. It's a welcome change that players have been asking for, but unfortunately, this bug has soured the mood in the community a bit.

The post Destiny 2 bug is wiping Triumph progress, possibility taking away Seals appeared first on Destructoid.

Cityscapes, cordyceps, and cinders

The second episode of The Last of Us television series is here, and regardless of what any given viewer thinks of the show, no one can deny that the creators are taking risks. While the premiere episode laid out a solid introduction to the series, it still left a lot of fans wondering what direction the story might take in the coming weeks. But this week's episode, "Infected," set a whole new tone, for better or for worse. Whether or not you liked it, there's no denying that this second chapter laid it all out there and made some bold choices. It's up to us to discuss and decide if the changes were worth it. Let's break down the episode, and get into it.

Recap time

Episode Two: “Infected” — run time 52 mins

The episode opens in Indonesia two days before the outbreak is in full swing, where government officials take custody of a professor of mycology (the study of fungi) from the University of Indonesia. At a lab, the professor goes into a laboratory to take a look at a woman who was bitten by what appears to be another person. The professor flees in horror when she sees that fungi are growing inside of the dead Infected woman, especially after pulling still-wriggling fungal tendrils from out of the dead woman's mouth. The terrified professor makes it clear that there is no medicine or cure for this ailment, and she encourages the government official to bomb the entire city with everyone inside. Roll opening credits.

[caption id="attachment_359351" align="alignnone" width="1200"] Image via HBO[/caption]

Ellie wakes up in an abandoned building to Joel and Tess watching her like a hawk. Joel is still skeptical of Ellie's supposed immunity, and he encourages Tess to stop giving Ellie hope of living because of her bite. After some more back-and-forth about whether or not they should take Ellie back, she reveals to them that the Fireflies were taking her west to a base where they would try to find a cure. Joel is annoyed and says he's heard it all before, but Tess convinces him to move forward because they'll get what they want from the Fireflies regardless after dropping Ellie off. Ellie asks for a gun and both Tess and Joel say no.

Out in the open

They step out into the open city and we get a shot of the iconic leaning skyscraper from the game, which served as the first big set piece. We get some backstory and character quips as they walk through the ruined downtown area of Boston, and while going through a flooded hotel lobby, Ellie divulges she doesn't swim. She also does the bit where she acts out being both a snobby hotel guest and receptionist, which for those who don't know is a beloved (and somewhat hidden) character moment from the game. One of the hallways on their usual route is caved in, so Tess has to go around, leaving Joel and Ellie are left alone to have a stilted conversation where she tries to get to know him a little bit better.

[caption id="attachment_359352" align="alignnone" width="1200"] Image via HBO[/caption]

Upon coming across a scene of dozens of Infected writhing around on the ground in a huge pile, Tess explains to Ellie that they're all connected in a sort of hive mind through a network of fungal way lines that grow under the ground. She says that stepping on a patch of the cordyceps fungus in one area can alert "a dozen Infected from somewhere else."

They decide to cut through a museum (another iconic location from the game) where they find a freshly-mauled man — Ellie says it didn't look anything like that when she encountered the Infected that bit her. After a tense walk up the stairs, the trio encounters two Clickers: monsters in an advanced stage of infection who are blinded by fungus growing out of their heads, and the series' most classic enemies. They make it out, and seem shaken but relatively unscathed. After taking a moment to catch their collective breath, we get the exchange from the game where Joel and Ellie comment on the view from the roof of the museum.

End of the line

When they reach the Capital Building, which was supposed to be the meetup spot with the Fireflies, they find that some of them became infected, and while the non-infected Fireflies tried to defend themselves, everyone ended up dead. When Tess frantically starts searching for clues of where to go next, Ellie figures out that Tess was actually bitten back at the museum and is now infected. Tess asks Joel to take Ellie to Bill and Frank's so that she might go on to the Fireflies to help make a cure, and in turn help "right the wrongs" that Tess and Joel have enacted.

Joel shoots an Infected, which alerts a horde of more Infected via the fungal way lines. Tess starts pouring gasoline, grenades, and other ammunition onto the ground and demands that Joel and Ellie flee, and the former of which reluctantly does so (Ellie doesn't have a say, as Joel grabs her by the arm and drags her kicking and screaming out of the room). As the Infect start barreling in, Tess is having trouble getting her lighter going.

[caption id="attachment_359358" align="alignnone" width="1200"] Image via HBO[/caption]

One of the Infected slowly walks up to a horrified-looking Tess, and then gives her a fully open mouth kiss so that his fungus tendrils go into her mouth. She manages to ignite the lighter, and we see the building explode with Joel and Ellie safely outside. We end on a shot of Ellie staring breathlessly into the distance as the Capital Building smolders behind her.

My thoughts

This second episode was a doozy, so I'll try to start with the less controversial stuff. Overall, this was a slow 52 minutes. It felt like we lost a lot of time repeating the same points in conversations, taking too long to get to the point, or taking too many little pauses between actions that left everything feeling like it was lurching along to me. I also didn't get a great sense of flow with this episode. One of my friends that I was watching with described it as a collage, and I honestly think this image conveys the structure of this second chapter in the story well. It felt like the creators (so I guess Neil Druckmann and Craig Mazin, in this case) plucked moments out of the game and stitched them together simply because they wanted to include them, rather than considering why those moments worked so well in the game.

The best example of this, I thought, was the bit where Ellie pretended to have a conversation with herself at the flooded hotel's reception desk. The hotel is a pretty famous (or infamous, I guess) level in the game that comes much later than where it was here, but I'll let that lie — changes like that are usually pretty harmless. What I didn't like about how this moment was implemented, though, was that Ellie went out of her way from a clear objective to partake in this moment, seemingly for no other reason than for the show to grind to a halt and go "Hey, remember when this happened in the game?"

When that moment happens in the game, Joel and Ellie are already exploring the area at a leisurely pace, so it makes perfect sense that she would slack off for a moment to have a little fun in an otherwise bleak day-to-day. It's also just a lot later in the story, too, when Ellie is much more at ease with Joel and feels freer to be herself.

[caption id="attachment_359354" align="alignnone" width="1200"] Image via HBO[/caption]

Okay, I know I'm already getting into the weeds a bit here. I get that they want viewers who have never played the game to be able to experience its most iconic moments, but plucking them out of context takes away from their overall impact, in my opinion. If they wanted to include those moments, I think they should have been a bit more careful when weaving them into the flow of the episode. It's a cute moment, but a cute moment without the support from the appropriate context from the character's arc or the overall story leaves it feeling hollow and devoid of any substance. I see this as a recurring pattern over the past two episodes, with the hotel lobby being the obvious moment this time around.

Taking a chance

Remember those risks I mentioned earlier? Yeah, it's time to talk about those. We knew going in that they were going to change the way the Infected "work," so to speak, namely by removing the detail that the fungal virus is spread by spores in the air. Ignoring the fact that that's actually how fungus spreads in real life, they opted instead to have Tess explain to Ellie (or rather, info dump) how the Infected are actually all connected through those fungal way lines that grow between them through the ground. Digging deeper into the zombie lore stuff is their prerogative with the show; I was the one who asked them to do something to set it apart from the game, right? But to me, spending all this time setting up new rules about how the zombies work is a waste of precious screen time on something that never really mattered to the series in the first place.

[caption id="attachment_359355" align="alignnone" width="1200"] Image via HBO[/caption]

The Last of Us is zombie fiction — the thing about The Last of Us, though, with its intense focus on character-driven storytelling, is that the zombies don't really matter. The fungus thing is a nice twist, but they could be shark zombies or straight-up aliens for all I care. What makes The Last of Us different than anything else in the already over-saturated zombie media market is its characters, and what it does with them. What makes the Infected the most interesting, in my opinion, is the high-stakes, pressure cooker context they provide that builds the framework for some robust, satisfying, and ultimately really moving character work.

When it comes to the Clicker scene... it wasn't my favorite. It was chaotic, but not in like an I'm-on-the-edge-of-my-seat kind of way. It was more of an I-can't-tell-what-the-hell-is-going-on kind of thing. Between the extreme shaky cam and incomprehensible cuts, it's near-impossible to follow, even upon repeat viewings. It was cool to see Clickers, though, because they are a fun monster. I just didn't think the scene was shot or edited in a particularly compelling way, from a horror standpoint.

[caption id="attachment_359356" align="alignnone" width="1200"] Image via HBO[/caption]

We gotta talk about the kiss

I'll end on the same note that the episode does: Tess' kiss. Anna Torv does a phenomenal job as Tess and brings something new to the role (something I'm still holding my breath to see from Bella Ramsey and Pedro Pascal), but they really lost me with the kiss. I've heard all kinds of explanations for why it's there, including the one from Mazin himself, but it just... doesn't work for me. It's certainly gross. It's certainly shocking. But I don't like gross and shocking for the sake of it.

Look, I was an English major. There are any number of "viable" reasons as to why it might be in there, from nature's ultimate triumph over man to the liminal bliss of the moment between life and death to some sort of twisted sexual commentary I don't care to describe even in a hypothetical situation. My point here is that The Last of Us has always been violent and brutal, but gross-out/body horror has never been in its wheelhouse. It feels too tonally dissonant to work for me, but I guess that's something we can hash out in the comments.

[caption id="attachment_359353" align="alignnone" width="1200"] Image via HBO[/caption]

In conclusion

Overall, I think what the show is missing the most for me so far is a clear sense of focus. It feels all over the place, especially in this second episode. Like a collage. We still have a whole lot of show left, so there's a good chance it could surprise me along the way, or even bring me back around by the end. I know I'm extra harsh as a big fan of the game, so I'll be interested to hear what non-gamers think of the whole ordeal.

So far I certainly don't think it's the worst thing I've ever seen, but I certainly don't think it's great, either. As for now, I'm looking forward to seeing where it all goes in the coming weeks. At least while there are still episodes out ahead of us, I can still have some hope that I'll come out on the other side with a mostly positive view.

Check out the rest of Destructoid’s coverage of the HBO adaptation of The Last of Us here.

[Disclosure: It’s important to disclose that I worked at Naughty Dog for a period of time during the development of The Last of Us Part II. My work did not involve or touch upon any of the content that is covered in the first season of HBO The Last of Us, but we believe it necessary and prudent to emphasize my time at the studio nonetheless. — Noelle Warner]

The post HBO’s The Last of Us Episode 2: Recap and thoughts appeared first on Destructoid.

The fan-favorite mode makes a return

Infinity Ward tried some new things with the release of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II — some of them stuck like semtex, and some of them didn't. One change that many players are excited to see reverted is the game's Hardcore mode, or more specifically, its return to the game with MWII's Season 2. The news came via the official Infinity Ward Twitter account, where they announced the return of the mode that makes an already-difficult game even harder. In addition, the studio stated that more updates on what to expect from Season 2 will be coming later this week on their blog.

Hardcore mode isn't for the faint of heart, as it gives players significantly less health, reduces the HUD down to a minimum, and turns friendly fire on. As usual, players will be able to access Hardcore mode through a specific playlist, so don't worry about getting roped into these games by accident — although I wouldn't put it past anyone considering how unnecessarily confusing Modern Warfare II's UI is. The mode dates all the way back to the original Modern Warfare in 2007, so I don't really understand why they didn't include it from launch to begin with. Oh well, something to look forward to I guess.

https://twitter.com/InfinityWard/status/1617220677517381632

Season 2 has already been delayed two weeks to February 15, as was correctly predicted by known Call of Duty data miner CODSploitz. In addition to Hardcore mode, the update will include the return of Resurgence mode, as well as "a brand new small map" and "new multiplayer maps, new modes, weapons and much more."

The post Hardcore mode is coming back for Modern Warfare II’s Season 2 appeared first on Destructoid.

The next Fortnite collab drops just in time for the Dead Space Remake

As one of the most popular games in the world, Fortnite is known for a whole host of different things, but its most famous feature is probably its huge variety of crossover events. They've teamed up with everyone from Star Wars to Ariana Grande, and now Fortnite is back with their Gaming Legends Series to collaborate with yet another iconic video game protagonist: Isaac Clarke of Dead Space fame. Clarke serves as the player character of all three Dead Space games, and is described as a "ship system specialist and necromorph slayer" by Fortnite's blog post. Yeah, that sounds about right to me.

Clarke is coming to Fortnite in the new Strange Transmissions Quest Pack, which will be available in the Item Shop for $11.99. The pack will include the Isaac Clarke Outfit, the RIG Back Blind, the Plasma Cutter Pickaxe (which comes with a built-in Bench Upgrade Emote), and the Strange Transmissions Quests that can earn you up to 1,500 V-Bucks.

https://twitter.com/FortniteGame/status/1617673934349942785

This Fortnite x Dead Space collaboration lands only four days before the long-awaited Dead Space Remake, which is officially out on Friday January 27, 2023. Now fans will be able to get extra hyped-up by taking on the new Strange Transmissions quests, and I expect we'll be seeing a ton of Isaac Clarke's flying around Battle Royale Island soon enough.

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Time to paint some happy little trees

I love Bob Ross. I mean, everybody loves Bob Ross, but I like to consider myself something of a superfan — I've seen every episode of The Joy of Painting, many of them multiple times, I have a collection of Bob Ross memorabilia (including a figurine that is currently on my desk), and I even dressed up as him to attend one of my sorority events when I was in college, including a curly-haired wig and fake beard. Bob Ross is a national treasure who embodies the kind of gentle, loving demeanor toward others and ourselves that I'm constantly striving to display on a deeper level, and now, I can do so in Morrowind of all places, thanks to this new mod inspired by The Joy of Painting.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nuOElGZbSgY

Created by modder Merlord, the aptly named Joy Of Painting mod is available for download on GitHub. You will need to have the Ashfall mod installed first, though, which allows you to craft the ever-crucial easel and canvas. Once that's done, all you need to do is place the easel down wherever you please (within reason), add a canvas, and then select which painting style you want to go with — the options include oil, watercolor, charcoal, and ink.  Unfortunately, the mod doesn't let you freehand your painting or drawing, as you'll only be able to select the subject of your painting based on who/what is in front of you. There are a few settings you can tweak, however, like brightness, contrast, and saturation.

It's nice that players can take a break from beatin' the devil out of their enemies and take some relaxing time to paint. I honestly couldn't tell you what Bob Ross would think of video games, but I'd like to think he'd enjoy hearing that his legacy is living on even through interactive media. Here's hoping that mods based on The Joy of Painting will become a regular thing, because I could use an ode to my favorite wholesome painter in every game I play for the rest of my life.

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Inflation affects yet another title

Factorio is one of those games that came out a good while ago, but I hear about it everywhere now, as it's continued to gain steam and further garner a player base as the years have gone on. The base-building strategy game originally came out on Steam in 2016, and its continued success just speaks to some solid game design, if you ask me. Now, seven years later, developers Wube Software have announced that Factorio will be receiving a price increase from $30 to $35 on Steam, and have cited inflation as the explanation for the change.

https://twitter.com/factoriogame/status/1616388275169628162

The game originally cost $20 when it was in early access on Steam in 2016, and the price increased to $30 with the release of version 1.0 in 2020. This change goes into effect on January 26, 2023, as per the tweet from Wube. The developers also added a comment to their Steam page that reads, "We don't have any plans to take part in a sale or to reduce the price for the foreseeable future" -- and this message is in place before the price increase hits.

Wube's announcement comes in the wake of tons of other inflation-driven price hikes, whether they're for other games, consoles, or streaming services. This is the first I've yet to see of a well-known indie game increasing their price (we've seen this in the AAA space for a while now with the new $70 standard), but I have a feeling it's a trend that's gonna catch on.

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Avast, ye! An update is here!

It always makes me happy to see Sea of Thieves in the news — it's one of those games that I think has a great premise and always delivers on the fun, and it's managed to live on despite threats of a shutdown in 2022. The game is not only alive now, but thriving — evidenced yet again by announced a new update for 2023 that Rare announced this week. This release will focus on matchmaking improvements, as well as the addition of Pet Rocks and a brand new live event called The Secret Wilds. It's always been exciting to be a pirate, but now, even more so.

The Secret Wilds event will take over right where the previous PvE event The Rogue's Legacy left off, which explored the backstory of an undead pirate named Captain Briggsy. The event will run from January 18-February 2, so players will have a few weeks to delve further into the mystery.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XresgzEZaT0

Sea of Thieves is also getting a whole host of new cosmetics, including the "Labyrinth Looter" set of outfits, guns, and ship accessories themed around the Greek myth of Theseus and the Minotaur. There's also a new emote that has players playing with their very own Pet Rock — I guess if you can't have a parrot, a rock is the next best thing.

Arguably the most exciting changes, however, come in the form of improvements to the game's PvP mode, especially when it comes to its matchmaking systems. In an attempt to make queue times shorter, Rare is introducing a system that will pair players with an opponent from the same faction if load times are too long to make sure that players will always be able to get into a game. In addition, Rare is also increasing the number of PvP arenas from six to 50, and the losing crew in a battle will receive more compensation as an effort to make losses less bothersome. Make sure to check out the Sea of Thieves news video for more info!

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It was HBO's second-biggest premiere in 13 years

Let's be honest — we all knew HBO's The Last of Us adaptation was going to be popular, it was just a matter of quite how popular it would turn out to be. As expected, it was a massive success, and a tweet from HBO Max confirmed it: the show surpassed 10 million viewers within two days of its premiere, and that only accounts for the viewers in the United States, according to HBO. Those numbers are broken down into 4.7 million streams on premiere night last Sunday, January 15, which means an additional 5.3 viewers tuned in the following day. I'd bet a good percentage of those people saw the hype online and wanted to see what all the fuss was about, because the series has lit up social media like the Fourth of July this week.

https://twitter.com/Variety/status/1615795010540302338

With numbers like that, The Last of Us has secured a spot as the second-most watched premiere of a show on HBO since 2010, second only to House of the Dragon with 9.98 million viewers. While The Last of Us had the benefit of a pre-built fanbase of gamers to flock to the streaming platform on opening night, House of the Dragon had the advantage of being a spin-off of another one of HBO's most successful series of all time: Game of Thrones.

HBO has also stated that numbers tend to grow significantly in the weeks after a show has premiered, with only 20-40% of its total numbers coming from Sunday night viewership. This means The Last of Us can be expected to be seeing even bigger numbers as time goes on, and as a fan of the series myself, I can imagine it's only a matter of time before even the most hardened skeptics cave to the curiosity — especially when it comes to seeing the adaptations of the show's most iconic scenes that are still ahead.

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Physical edition fans, rejoice!

In a time when digital media can disappear out of thin air with nothing but the blink of an eye from a jaded executive, I think it's more than fair that some fans prefer to own physical copies of their favorite media, including games. Fans of The Witcher 3 who want to have the game available in physical form for their PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X are in luck, because CD Projekt Red is releasing The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt - Complete Edition in the European and North American regions next week on January 26.

https://twitter.com/witchergame/status/1616406686734110723

The Complete Edition will of course include the base game, as well as the game's previously released DLCs, Blood and Wine and Heart of Stone. This edition will also come along with the the recent next-gen update that the game received in December, which mainly focused on quality-of-life changes, as well as extras like a new quest, a photo mode, cross-platform progression, new outfits inspired by The Witcher's Netflix series, and more.

What's more, we also got news that CD Projekt Red is also working on some improvements to the next-gen PC version of the game, which is in desperate need of a patch when it comes to performance issues. These problems have persisted after a hotfix patch from the studio, and experts have suggested that the game will need a more intensive overhaul in order to run more smoothly on the PC platform.

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More games based on TV shows, please

Video game adaptations are more popular than ever, especially when it comes to the games-to-TV/film side of things — just look at the endless conversations surrounding HBO’s adaptation of The Last of Us. Last year I wrote a list of my dream TV shows based on game franchises, and now that some of those are actually coming true, I thought it was high time to flip things around the other way and bring about even more manifestation.

Although they had a heyday in the early-to-mid 2000s in the form of licensed shovelware, TV-to-game adaptations are few and far between as of late — but that doesn’t mean there aren’t some awesome IPs that would make for some killer adaptations into video games. Here’s a short list of some of my current favorite TV shows that would absolutely dominate as interactive content.

Breaking Bad as a GTA-style open-world game

[caption id="attachment_358879" align="alignnone" width="1200"] Image via Netflix[/caption]

Breaking Bad creator Vince Gilligan himself stated that he wants a GTA-style open-world game inspired by the show and I for one am inclined to agree with him. I really think that if we all demand this enough times, we can finally get someone to cave and just make the damn thing already. I can imagine that there’s a good deal of crossover between fans of the GTA series and Breaking Bad already, so the demographic is already there.

It’s already a blast to see Walter and Jesse running around Albuquerque and beyond acting as some of the toughest drug lords around, so the desire to play as them be the tough drug lords ourselves is the next natural progression. I can already see it now — driving around town in the RV, busting up anyone who gets in my way, a mini-game to cook my very own inventory, and unlocking a secret achievement for throwing a pizza on the roof of Walter’s house. There’s certainly not a lack of great source material to pull from over the show’s five-season run; it pulls off something most shows can’t by staying consistently excellent all the way through.

Succession as a Disco Elysium-style RPG

[caption id="attachment_358880" align="alignnone" width="1200"] Image via HBO[/caption]

Succession is one of those shows that’s in its own league in its medium, similar to Disco Elysium’s status in games. I’m sure you can see where I’m going with this.

The point-and-click genre is already predisposed to take on murder mysteries really well, but I think a Disco Elysium-style text-heavy RPG that centers on corporate intrigue and espionage would be blow-your-socks-off incredible. Much like Disco Elysium, Succession also feels like an epic, Shakespearean tale that deals with themes of morality and how your choices define you.

Whether players would take on the role of one of the show’s main cast, or some lackey who’s trying to work their way up through the fictional Waystar Royco company, there could be all kinds of avenues for different choices and story paths. Not to mention, you could do some really fun stuff with different stats that are specifically beneficial to have in the corporate world.

Ultimately, Succession is a show that has huge stakes and a ton of tension in every episode, and yet it consists of nothing more than people standing in a room and talking. That kind of whip-smart, slow-build writing is absolutely perfect for a text-heavy game in the style of something like Disco Elysium.

Survivor as a social deduction game

[caption id="attachment_358882" align="alignnone" width="1200"] Image via CBS[/caption]

Survivor is a show I used to binge on the regular with my family after dinner, and I recently got back into it after sitting my friend down to show them all of my favorite seasons. Not only is Survivor stellar reality TV, but it’s also just a great game – it involves social dynamics as a main mechanic, has a 23-year history of evolving gameplay meta, and always throws in new twists and advantages to force players to shake things up.

Then we look back to games, and social deduction games like Among Us have dominated for the past few years. There’s technically already a Survivor video game that came out in 2001, but we’ve clearly come a long way since then. Take the social deduction part of Among Us, take the “physical challenge” aspects of Fall Guys, throw all of your closest friends into a lobby, and you’d have one of the best Friday nights of your life — even players who get voted out early could have a blast in their own chat channel as members of the Jury. Tell me I’m wrong.

Crazy Ex-Girlfriend as a dating sim

[caption id="attachment_358883" align="alignnone" width="1200"] Image via Netflix[/caption]

This is probably the most out-there entry on this list, but I had to include it because Crazy Ex-Girlfriend is one of my absolute favorite shows of all time. There comes a point in the later seasons where the show’s protagonist Rebecca is faced with choosing between three love interests, which is rife with dating sim potential if you ask me.

The show is also a musical (you probably recognize some of the songs that became memes, even if you’ve never seen the show in your life), so some rhythm games would slot nicely into this whole affair as you navigate Rebecca’s love life. What’s more, she’s also a lawyer, so if the hypothetical developers really wanted to get fancy with it, they could also throw in some Phoenix Wright-esque court cases to solve.

The show also has a hilarious, tongue-in-cheek tone, which is absolutely something I’d love to see more of in games. I sometimes feel like this industry takes itself way too seriously, which an IP like Crazy Ex-Girlfriend would actively defy. Plus, the show handles tough topics like mental health issues better than most out there, and I think it would be productive to move some more of that conversation to the games space as well.

Barry as a narrative-heavy stealth shooter

[caption id="attachment_358884" align="alignnone" width="1200"] Image via HBO[/caption]

Another one of the best shows that’s airing right now, Barry has set new standards in this age of television again and again. One of its biggest strengths is the ever-growing contrast between his personal life and his “job,” which I think would make for some compelling gameplay. On one side, you could have some more relaxed sections that focus more on talking with the side characters, making friends, going to acting class, and so on. Then of course there’s the assassin side, where Barry goes on missions with stealth and shooting mechanics. 

There's tons to pull from between the show’s tight character work and bombastic action scenes, so I have faith that a video game version of Barry would be a fun, fresh take on the IP. Genre-bending games are also having their heyday right now, and if the vision I have in my head of the entire look of feel of the game-changing between the two sides of Barry’s personality came to life, it could make a name as a truly unique piece of interactive storytelling.

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A harrowing journey to the end of the world

I never get tired of a good narrative game, so when I see a trailer that looks good enough to grab my attention, I can't help but get excited about a potential new story-driven gem. That's absolutely the case when it comes to The Pale Beyond, a narrative polar exploration game that's set to release on February 24, 2023. The title was originally announced back in November of 2021, and its story will follow the crew of a vessel named The Temperance, who have set out on an expedition toward the South Pole in an attempt to discover the mystery of their lost sister ship, the Viscount, which set out on a journey to find the absolute magnetic South five years prior.

https://youtu.be/PvvkUPPJc_E

The Pale Beyond's launch trailer shows off some of the game's foremost mechanics, like resource and morale management and survival simulation — one can imagine how those elements will tie into tough narrative choices the player must make for the survival of the crew. What really grabbed me about this game is its art style, from the painterly backdrops to the hand-drawn character portraits. Here's hoping that the gameplay experience will hold up against the gorgeous visuals.

I'm a big fan of these harrowing, tension-filled "journey" narratives, and it's certainly not a story I've played in a game for a good while now, so I'm looking forward to checking out The Pale Beyond once it drops. If the game looks interesting to you as well and you want to get a taste before the release date, there's also a demo you can download on The Pale Beyond's Steam page right now.

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Rockstar relists their classic trilogy

GTA fans have had something of a rough go of it the past few years, what with the continued radio silence about GTA 6's development since the announcement that it was happening in the first place, and the disappointing launch of Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy — The Definitive Edition back in 2021. Here's hoping that today's news is still something of a respite, despite the Definitive Edition's rough start.

Either way, the trilogy is now available to purchase on Steam, and is also playable on the Steam Deck, which should be exciting to hear for at least some of the GTA diehards out there. Rockstar also stated that they'll be making the game available on the Epic Games Store later this month, so Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy — The Definitive Edition will be even more accessible to PC players soon enough.

https://twitter.com/RockstarGames/status/1616138619273478146

This is the first time GTA 3, Vice City, and San Andreas will be available on Steam after they were delisted with the release of the Definitive Edition a few years ago -- players previously had to access them through Rockstar's own store if they wanted to play them on the PC at all over the past few years. The trilogy is still available to play on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X, but here's hoping the Steam Deck capability will make it up to any players who have dealt with any Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy — The Definitive Edition-caused headaches over the past few years.

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